Amphotericin B is a polyene macrolide compound having antifungal properties. It is produced by cultivation of an organism and extracted from the culture. Amphotericin B is essentially a high molecular weight highly unsaturated, macrocyclic lactone, better known as a polyene macrolide, possessing a chromophore of seven conjugated double bonds. In addition to the large lactone nucleus, amphotericin B has other characteristic groups including an amino sugar. A general discussion of macrolide antibiotics is found in Kirk-Othmer, Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, Second Edition, Volume 12, pp. 632 et seq., while a general discussion of polyene antibiotics is found in the same work, Volume 16, pp. 133 et seq.
While amphotericin B has been recognized as a valuable material, particularly in its powerful antifungal properties and in the apparent inability of fungus organisms to develop readily any strains or forms that are resistant to amphotericin B, its clinical (therapeutic) use has been limited by lack of adequate water solubility in forms of amphotericin B which are otherwise stable and appropriate.